Asylum strangers are forced together
COOKING, sleeping and washing while crammed together in a tiny space, these protesters claim they are highlighting conditions forced on refugees and asylum seekers.
Campaigners from the Migration and Asylum Justice Forum took to Newcastle to hit out at accommodation standards for those who have fled to the UK.
The group accused housing company Jomast, which provides housing for asylum seekers, of forcing vulnerable people to share rooms.
Last year, Newcastle City Council banned companies from forcing single adults to share rooms with anyone who wasn’t a relative.
But at a tribunal in March Jomast successfully challenged the decision, arguing its rooms abide by Home Office standards and the council doesn’t have the power to enforce its own rules.
Handing out leaflets and peti- tions, MAJF campaigners marked out a small area at the top of Northumberland Street and mimed everyday actions like cooking, sleeping and washing.
They said people were often forced to share bedrooms with another person, who may not even speak the same language.
West African refugee Ibrahim, said: “The idea is to show the impact of room sharing.
“Asylum seekers have already been traumatised, and they come here for safety and a better life, but sometimes they find themselves in a situation that’s just as bad. People are having to queue for bathrooms, getting into arguments.
“It’s horrible: when I wake up in the morning, I try to pray, but my room-mate will just be there, maybe on his phone, disturbing my privacy. It’s not his fault, neither of us have a choice.”
Protester Rachel Whitehouse added: “When you’re dealing with very vulnerable people I think it’s a basic human right that they should have their own space. When you’re going through the British immigration system there’s already enough to deal with.”
One woman, who is 21 and from Eritrea, said: “I do like the people and the culture here, but I’m really disappointed in the decision makers: they sign up to the human rights act and EU standards and act like they are going to protect refugees and offer them a decent life, but they don’t. People have the right to know where their tax money is going: they might assume it would go on decent housing, but private companies are just taking the money.”
A small group of far right counterprotesters were kept at a distance by police, but the MAJF activists said the majority of passers-by had been supportive. Jomast could not be reached for a comment, but in March, Stuart Monk, its managing director, told our colleagues at GazetteLive: “Jomast provides good accommodation in accordance with its contractual obligations. “There are strict rules, in respect of which Jomast is fully compliant, regarding the housing of service users.” At the tribunal, Jomast’s barrister, Dominic Bayne, successfully argued the council’s notices contained a trio of “defects” - and that it didn’t have the jurisdiction to effectively override the Home Office. “These overcrowding notices should not have been sent,” he said. “[The council] has no power - that’s the local authority going on a frolic of its own.”